Mineral Belt Trail

The Mineral Belt Trail is a paved loop around Leadville, completed in 2000 and listed by Lake County among the recreation facilities it owns, operates and maintains. Lengths differ by page: the trail’s own site and the county’s tourism panel give about 11.6 miles (the trail’s site also says 11.7), and the county’s facilities page says 12. Some six miles run through the historic Leadville Mining District, past mining structures from as early as the 1880s and interpretive signs, and the trail’s site says the project began in 1993 to soften the environmental and historical effects of the California Gulch Superfund cleanup. Round metal mile markers count clockwise, colored marks on the pavement give a location for emergency calls, and shelters stand after mile markers 3, 5, 7 and 10. The tourism panel says the route is accessible under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Motorized vehicles are not allowed, Class I and II e-bikes are; dogs must be leashed under county law; and the trail’s site advises against leaving the trail, since historic structures, open mine shafts and private land lie beside it.

Walkers, runners and cyclists use it in summer and fall; in winter it is groomed for classic and skate skiing, snowshoeing and fat biking, and Lake County posts grooming status through the Nordic Pulse app on its Winter Groomed Trails page. That page says grooming for 2025/26 ended early because of an exceptionally low snowfall season. The Leadville Loppet, the trail’s fundraiser, is a 5, 10, 22 and 44 km ski race on the last Saturday of February.

Length, completion date and county upkeep were read on Lake County’s Parks and Facilities page, trailheads, parking and the e-bike rule on the county tourism panel’s Mineral Belt Trail page, and the hazards, dog rule and mile markers on the trail’s own The Trail page and its history on its History & Vision page, all on 10 October 2026. The dated evidence: the county’s grooming notice for the 2025/26 season, the tourism panel’s Know Before You Go page, which after its 20 August 2026 Willow Fire update lists the Mineral Belt Trail among the open areas east of town, and the county’s events calendar, which lists the Blaze the Belt downhill skateboard race from California Gulch on 17 October 2026.